The role of the major royal jelly proteins for caste differentiation in the honeybee Apis mellifera]

揭示蜜蜂蜂王分化的因果生物学机制是社会性昆虫研究的核心范式之一。众所周知，雌性幼虫变成女王的决定取决于营养。只有蜂王幼虫才被专门喂以皇家浆（RJ），这是一种哺育幼蜂的幼工蜂下咽腺分泌物。最近，DNA甲基化，一种表观遗传修饰，已被证明干扰各种基因级联，这是中央的种姓调节蜜蜂。尽管有这些详细的知识，RJ饮食的因果作用仍然是不确定的和高度争议的。我们在这里提出了一个全面的功能特性的主要RJ蛋白（MRJPs），构成高达90%的总蛋白含量的RJ。我们将在进化遗传学方法中揭示这些蛋白质的适应价值，用生化分析表征它们的结构，并使用体外饲养幼虫实验测试它们的功能。我们不仅希望解决关于女王决定子的持续争议，而且还希望了解mrjp基因簇的极端辐射的进化以及MRPJ的许多其他功能。

Unravelling the causal biological mechanisms of queen differentiation in the honeybee Apis mellifera is one of the central paradigms in social insect research. It is long known, that the determination of a female larva into a queen is governed by nutrition. Only queen larvae are fed exclusively with royal jelly (RJ), a secretion of the hypopharyngeal glands of young worker bees that nurse the brood. Recently, DNA methylation, an epigenetic modification, has been shown to interfere with various gene cascades which are central for caste regulation in honey bees. In spite of this detailed knowledge, the causal role of the RJ diet is still inconclusive and highly controversial. We here propose a comprehensive functional characterisation of the major RJ proteins (MRJPs) that constitute up to 90% of total protein content of RJ. We will unravel the adaptive value of these proteins in an evolutionary genetics approach, characterize their structure with biochemical analyses and experimentally test their function using in vitro rearing of larvae. We not only expect to resolve the ongoing controversy over the queen determinator, but also to understand the evolution of the extreme radiation of the mrjp gene cluster as well as many of the other functions of the MRPJs.